Rubin – Kyrgios

Local favorite Noah Rubin will take on Nick Kyrgios on Thursday night in the second round at the ATP 250 event in Atlanta, played on outdoor hard.

The 164th ranked Rubin had a pretty good year for his standards, climbing around 40 positions in the ATP rankings since the start of the season. Rubin had a great week so far here in Atlanta, playing some great tennis to pass qualifications and then the first round as well. He won all three matches in straight sets against King and Jung (qualies) and Kokkinakis (first round), never being pushed beyond 6-4 in a set.

Kyrgios (a former winner here in 2016) has not played since Wimbledon, where he was defeated by Nishikori in the third round. Nick had a rather mediocre year for his standards, as he is in danger of dropping out of the Top 20, but it has to be said he also had to deal with some injuries which affected his ability to play consistently. This will be Nick’s first match of the year in the American hard court season, as he had a bye in the first round here in Atlanta.

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This will be the first meeting between the two players. In terms of styles, Kyrgios at 1.93m tall is the bigger and stronger player compared to the 1.75m Rubin, but both players are very good on hard courts.

Rubin has been great so far in Atlanta, and considering how clearly he won his matches, he must be confident and feel in some kind of zone. He will have a clear advantage over Kyrgios in terms of rhythm, as Nick hasn`t played a single match since Wimbledon.

Although Kyrgios is obviously the much better and much more talented player, Rubin could have a shot here given that he has matches under his belt and is in very good form.

Motivation is also something which could work in Rubin’s favor, as this will be one of the biggest matches of his career, while for Kyrgios it`s just a second round match at a small tournament, it will be more of a training session for him to get back in rhythm.

In fact, Kyrgios has been known to start slow in ATP events this season. Nick played 7 tournaments this year and lost a set in his first match in 5 of those tournaments – including in the last 4, against Fratangelo, Marterer, Murray and Istomin.

One thing that will be kind of worrying for Rubin is the fact that he doesn`t have the greatest serve out there. He serves well, but his serve won`t win him a lot of free points, and won`t carry him to tiebreaks. As such, he has to play at a very high level from the baseline. On the bright side, that is something he has done all week.

Rubin will rarely have a bigger chance to beat a player like Kyrgios, so look for him to come out with a lot of focus and intensity, while Kyrgios is likely to be a bit rusty, not as motivated, and a bit error prone. In these circumstances, my tip will be over 21.5 games to be played. Prediction: Noah Rubin – Nick Kyrgios 7-6 3-6 4-6.

Pick: over 21,5 games
Odds: 1.80 @ 1xBet
Stake: 7
Possible profit: 5.60
Event date: 26 July